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Finally, Beau brought his hands together in a single clap. “Well, that was fun.”
Austin shot his brother a look. “Mom and Dad have decided that the family is going to sit this one out,” he said.
Savannah pounded her flat palms on the table. “What makes them think they can speak for us?” she asked. “The last time I checked, we were adults. I’m sorry that they’ll be disappointed, but Chaz and I are going to the wedding whether they like it or not. We are adults—as are each and every one of you. Mom and Dad need to understand that they don’t get to make decisions for us anymore.”
Austin’s mind bounced back to Felicity and his tangled feelings that were wrapped around Fortune Investments’ no-fraternizing policy and the debacle of all that had happened with his marriage and subsequent divorce. He wasn’t letting his parents decide whether or not he could explore a more personal relationship with Felicity.
He had weighed both sides. On the one side, Fortune Investment could lose a good employee and potentially get slapped with a harassment suit, though that didn’t seem like Felicity’s style. On the other side were all these strange feelings that had suddenly stirred in his heart after all these years. With Kelly, he had jumped before he weighed all the dangers. Not anymore. This time the negatives weighed heavier than the positives, warning him that getting involved with Felicity would end badly for everyone.
Sarah returned with a mile-high chocolate cake. “Will someone help me, please, and get the coffee while I serve the cake?”
Savannah and Austin both stood. Without another word, they walked into the kitchen. “I can’t wait to get out of here and go to the French Quarter before I say or do irreparable damage to my relationship with Mom. She is so freaked out about this. But the parents and I are going to have to agree to disagree on this because I’m going to the wedding.”
“So, you’re set on going, then?” Austin asked.
It wasn’t optimal, but he was confident enough in the strength of their family bond to know that even if Savannah did break rank and attend the wedding, her relationship with their parents might be strained for a while but the family bond wouldn’t be broken. In fact, there was very little any of them could do to cause that kind of damage. Their bond was that strong.
Savannah nodded. “We can’t live scared, Austin. Otherwise, it’s not much of a life. You could apply the same philosophy to your dating life. You can’t let Kelly keep you from finding love. Otherwise, she wins in a big way. Even though you say you have no feelings for her, essentially, she’s holding your heart hostage. You need to adopt my credo and refuse to negotiate with terrorists, which essentially describes Kelly, and absolutely describes Charlotte.”
“Yeah, well, let’s leave my dating life out of this,” he said. “Kelly is not holding my heart hostage. Just as you draw boundaries with Mom, I’ve drawn them with Kelly. And now I’m drawing them with you.”
He smiled at her in a way that showed he meant business but that he wasn’t mad at her. Savannah had always been a feisty one. Austin resisted the urge to ask her how often she’d been in the position to negotiate with terrorists, as she’d put it. He also curbed the urge to ask her why she was so hell-bent on attending the wedding of this newfound family member at the risk of upsetting her immediate family, but that would only get her more riled up and make her more determined to go.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Austin said, realizing the generalization could apply to both the Charlotte situation and his dating life. “In the meantime, let’s eat dessert in peace, so we can leave things on good terms with mom. Then you can blow off some steam on Bourbon Street. I can’t stay long because I have a long day tomorrow.”
“But you’re still bringing a date tonight, right?” Savannah asked, as she poured coffee into cups on a tray. “I’m not pressuring you. But you did say you would.”
“I don’t know that I’d call her a date. She’s more of a business acquaintance, but that’s one of the reasons I came into the kitchen. I am going to call her now.”
